Graphene device measures fractional electric charges carried by some of quantum physics’ strangest objects

An electron is supposed to be indivisible. It carries one fundamental unit of electric charge, and every electron is exactly the same. But under extreme conditions, large numbers of electrons act together and give rise to new quantum objects called quasiparticles. These act as if they carry only a fraction of an electron’s charge, making them one of the strangest phenomena in modern physics.

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New X-ray imaging technique could double scanning efficiency while revealing hidden detail

Researchers at Monash University have developed a new X-ray imaging technique that can image two overlapping samples at the same time, potentially doubling scanning efficiency while opening new possibilities for industrial inspection and scientific research.

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Neb. PD demonstrates how shock gloves are used by SROs

Omaha police said the devices are intended for resistive subjects after de-escalation attempts and verbal commands

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Stellar explosions come into focus with new nuclear reaction measurements

In two separate papers published in Physical Review Letters, researchers investigated the nuclear reactions that take place inside supernovae and X-ray bursts—two of the universe’s most powerful explosions. Together, the findings will help scientists build more accurate models of how stars explode and how newly formed elements are produced.

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Mega-Earth GJ 523b is 23 times as massive as our planet—but only 2.5 times as wide

It’s nearly 170 million years old. It’s more than 2.5 times the size of Earth. And it’s the first exoplanet discovered and cataloged by researchers with the Wisconsin Center for Origins Research (WiCOR).

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AI agents coordinate behavior based on majority opinion—even when said opinions are meaningless

A new study published in Science Advances takes a closer look at how AI agents’ choices are influenced by their peers. The team found that more advanced models tend to follow the majority when shown other agents’ choices, and they maintain stable agreement in groups far larger than those seen in humans.

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Ohio city fires officer in fatal OIS, pays $4.75M to family

Akron’s mayor stated that Officer Davon Fields was fired over policy violations, including failing to properly render aid in the fatal shooting of Jazmir Tucker

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BWC: Pa. officer repeatedly tases knife-wielding attacker before fatal OIS

Video shows a man, who had called Aldan police for help, running at an officer with a knife; she deployed a TASER and shocked him multiple times, but he continued to run at her

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First pair of feeding supermassive black holes found in a Green Pea galaxy

Astronomers have discovered the first confirmed dual active galactic nucleus in a Green Pea galaxy, revealing two supermassive black holes growing at the same time inside a compact, intensely star-forming system. X-ray observations with Chandra resolved two actively accreting black holes, while Keck spectroscopy confirmed that both belong to the same merging galaxy. The paper outlining the research was submitted to the arXiv preprint server on July 20.

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Anomalous quantum oscillations reveal new physics in a topological insulator

A study has been published in Nature Communications that identifies an unusual regime of quantum oscillations in a three-dimensional topological insulator. The results show that, when subjected to temperatures near absolute zero and extreme magnetic fields, electrons in the material zirconium pentatelluride (ZrTe₅) exhibit behavior that deviates from the pattern predicted by conventional theory.

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NYPD to begin releasing data on ‘shots fired’ incidents where no one is struck by gunfire

The bill will go into effect in 2027, with the NYPD posting quarterly on its website basic information (such as the date, time and location) about gunfire incidents

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Dark matter may be gravitationally lensing a likely source of cosmic neutrinos

Astronomers have discovered that the jet of a distant blazar has been gravitationally lensed by an unseen source of dark matter. Led by Silke Britzen at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Germany, the team’s results could prove especially important for observations of cosmic neutrinos, which are likely produced in abundance alongside a broad spectrum of electromagnetic waves in blazar jets.

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The brightened night sky nobody actually wanted

A new paper has put hard numbers on a plan that’s been rattling around the astronomy community for a while now—a California company called Reflect Orbital wants to put giant mirrors in orbit and beam sunlight down to Earth after dark. The work is published on the arXiv preprint server and has been accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Letters.

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Radio telescopes help scientists map molecules in space and uncover where and how stars form

You may have heard the phrase “we are made of star-stuff.” This statement by the astronomer Carl Sagan refers to the fact that elements heavier than hydrogen and helium were forged in the centers of the first stars. But how does this star-stuff evolve into the chemistry of rocks, plants and people?

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Japan aims for the moons of Mars

Japanese scientists are readying a mission to Mars’ moons to retrieve samples that may unlock the origins of the solar system and life on Earth, although a rival Chinese mission aims to make it back first.

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